


Midnight Madness

by AWildOreo



Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: The Midnight Channel (Persona 4)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26508535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AWildOreo/pseuds/AWildOreo
Summary: Naoto Shirogane is working on the Inaba murder case late one night when she sees the Midnight Channel and things happen...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Midnight Madness

_September 14, 2011_

Naoto Shirogane was sitting at her desk, hard at work trying to figure out the Inaba murder cases. It was close to midnight and rain was pounding outside. Recently, she had appeared on television in order to prove the correlation between appearing on the television and disappearing soon after. She was now waiting to be kidnapped by the killer so she could show the police that the case is not over because Mitsuo Kubo was arrested. If only she could figure out more about the case…

She was brought out of her thoughts by the faint sound of static. Looking around, Naoto noticed that her own small television was the source of the sound. Confused, the detective stood and began going towards the set.

 _Strange,_ Naoto thought, _I don’t remember ever turning this on…_

Looking closer, she noticed there seemed to be a figure showing up on the screen. The detective remembered a rumor she heard floating around Yasogami High, where if you looked at a television at midnight while it was raining, your soulmate would appear. Naoto disregarded the rumor as soon as she heard it, but here was… something. Actually, the figure on the screen looked vaguely like her!

**“We rescue people by going into the TV and fighting Shadows!”**

Thinking back to the trip to Tatsumi Port Island, Naoto remembered the insane description Amagi and Kujikawa said about what they knew about the murders. Shadows and Personas, that group had quite the imagination; if only they didn’t mock her with it.

Refocusing on the figure, Naoto realized that it was closer to the screen. Also, if she focused, she could hear… something coming in through the static. Leaning closer to the television, Naoto tried to hear what was coming in.

“ _…lone. Wh…on’t anyon…ser…sly…_ ”

The static was too loud to clearly hear what was coming through, but strangely enough, the words Naoto heard didn’t seem to be coming from the television itself, they seemed to be echoing in her head.

This revelation caused Naoto to pause. Rumors. Shadows. Personas. Sounds in her head. Many strange things have been happening as of late, and Naoto had no idea how to solve it. It frustrated her to no end. People her own age mocked her, the police force treated her as if she was just a child and not important help. The young detective sighed. _If only I were male, and an adult, then I would get the respect I deserved…_

If Naoto were paying close attention to the television, she would have noticed the image focus slightly, and a smirk appear on the silhouette’s face.

“ _I can help with that._ ”

Naoto’s eyes widened. A voice that sounded like hers echoed clearly through her head, but those were not her thoughts.

Before she could make a coherent response, a white-clad arm shot out of the television and grabbed her collar. It attempted to pull her in, but Naoto grabbed the sides of the set and pushed in a desperate attempt to be released.

The arm lost its grip, and Naoto fell back onto the floor hard, hitting the back of her head as well. Hissing in pain, the detective looked back at the television…

…to see _something_ trying to crawl out of it. Slowly, the being’s arms gripped the sides of the screen and dragged the rest of its body out with it. As it stood up, Naoto realized that it looked almost exactly like her, besides being dressed in what seemed to be an oversized labcoat. It also had piercing, golden eyes that seemed to stare right into her soul.

Backing away slowly, Naoto struggled to make sense of what she was seeing. “W-what is… this can’t be possible…”

The doppelganger grinned in a way that made Naoto freeze in her tracks. “ _Scared, Shirogane?_ ” The voice was heard both coming from the thing’s mouth and in Naoto’s head. “ _The detectives in the novels you read wouldn’t be as frightened as you are._ ”

Registering the mocking tone, Naoto steeled herself. “What are you. What do you want.”

Anger flashed across the being’s face for a moment before it recomposed itself. “ _You wouldn’t believe me if I told you what I was. As for what I want…_ ” It stepped closer to Naoto. “ _I want to help you._ ”

“Help me?”

“ _Yes, help you. Just a few minutes ago, you were wishing to grow up and be a man! I could do that for you._ ”

Naoto could not comprehend what the doppelganger said. “You… could do that?” It nodded. “That’s… that’s…” _That’s ludicrous,_ she wanted to say, _how would I know that you are trustworthy? Do you have any surgical training?_

The being’s eyes suddenly narrowed as it stepped closer again, this time stopping mere inches from the detective’s feet. “ _What do children know about what’s best for them?_ ”

Ignoring the strangeness of the question, Naoto shot up to her feet, enraged. “Don’t call me-ugh!”

Naoto was cut off from finishing her sentence as the copy shot a hand forward and grabbed her throat. “ _You might not accept my proposition at the moment,_ ” it said with a hint of frustration in its voice, “ _but soon, you will see._ ”

It let go, and Naoto dropped to her hands and knees, breathing heavily. She looked back up at it, and the only thing that was not covered in shadow was its glowing, yellow eyes.

The being grinned maliciously, causing Naoto to involuntarily shudder. “ _We shall meet again,_ ” it said ominously. Its golden eyes flashed-

-and Naoto woke up in her bed.

The detective sighed in relief. _It was all a dream._ There were no doppelgangers, no midnight channels, no almost being yanked into televisions…

She had more important things to worry about, such as preparing to catch the killer in the act, and hinting to Narukami and his friends on her intentions.

She wondered why she had a bit of a headache, though…


End file.
